House on Hollywood Hill
by MST3Claye
Summary: The gang help the kids from Whitney High School set up a haunted house they're going to run, but something is afoot in this house of horrors! Made for the Halloween Challenge on the GAH forums.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fan fiction writing. I'm ususally making fun of fanfics with the help from a guy trapped in space and his robot pals, not making fanfics themselves! Don't worry, no one here has been the victim of my mstings. This was made for the Halloween Challenge that Jo Pierce - GAH Noir made on the GAH forums. I hope you all enjoy it!

House on Hollywood Hill  
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Chapter 1  
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"Bill, I appreciate you helping us out tonight." Ralph said as he looked over towards the occupied driver's seat. "I'm sure the kids do as well." he added.

"Hmph!" Bill quickly responded in disagreement. "No they don't. Your kids are hooligans, Ralph. It's not like I WANTED to do this. I had to give Carlisle a good excuse for not going to the office party," he said somewhat relieved.

"The office party." Pam said as she peered out behind stacked boxes in the back seat. "I remember, the last time you drank the punch and found out later it was spiked." she said chuckling.

Bill looked in the mirror and firmly stated, "Counselor, that never happened!" Bill rubbed his nose. "Atleast I don't remember it happening." he quietly said to himself. Tired of the long drive early in the morning, Bill asked "Which street are we looking for?"

"Valley Vista Boulevard. It should be the next street up ahead." Ralph answered.

---

The goverment issued car pulled to a stop in front of the house. "1313 Mockingbird Lane," Bill said as he exited the car, "I should call my real estate agent."

"The house has seen some wear and tear. It was owned by a widow before she moved somewhere else. It fits tonight's theme very well." Ralph said. He then motioned to Bill, "Would you help us with these boxes? We've got a load back here." Bill took a couple boxes from Pam as they headed towards the house.

Ralph rang the doorbell while holding a box in his other arm.

"Good Evening." Cyler said in a spooky voice holding a cape over his face as he opened the door.

Ralph grinned as he entered the house. "I'm glad to see that you're getting in the mood, Cyler."

"It looks like everyone is having fun." Pam said as she looked over to Bill groaning as he unloaded one of the boxes on a table nearby. "Well, almost everyone," she chuckles.

"You bet, Miss Davidson! We get to dress up in these cool costumes and scare everyone that visits tonight!" Cyler excitingly said as he held up a fake skull.

"This is better than the time we hid behind the bushes throwing eggs at cars that drove by!" Paco said perched on a ladder connecting wires to a speaker.

"Just remember to not scare the folks too much." Ralph says half concerned, "We're trying to give the neighborhood a good impression of you guys." Rhonda replied. "We won't, Mr. H," seemingly as a voice of reason.

"Glad to hear it," he said reileved.

From across the room Bill asked, "Ralph, where does this box of rubber bats go?"

Ralph pointed over towards the corner of the hallway answering him. "In that back room."

Bill examined one of the rubber bats and tossed it back in the box as he rolled his eyes. He picked up the box and took it to the end of the hallway. "Don't they know doorknobs were invented," he says as he realized it was a sliding door. He slid the wooden door open revealing a brick wall. He flinches, but quickly recovered. "Uhh Ralph," he says with concern in his voice.

"What is it, Bill," replied Ralph as he hung streamers on the wall in the main room.

"I think you better," he started to say but is stopped mid-sentence.

A black furry arm with sharp claws pushed through a few bricks in the middle of the wall swiping at Bill. "GEEZ! RALPH!", Bill yelled frightened as he dropped the box spilling its contents.

Ralph rushed over to Bill. Ralph looks at Bill sitting on the floor among the spilled bats, "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Yeah. What's wrong, Maxwell?", Tony said peering his head through the open area in the brick wall. "I didn't know G-Men were afraid of cheap Halloween costumes," he humorously said as he tossed the furry costume glove at Bill.

Steamed at Tony, Bill tossed the glove to the side. "Ralph, that wasn't funny!" Bill said as he stood up.

Trying to calm everyone down Ralph looked over to Tony. "Tony, you did a good job with the fake wall here."

"Nuthin' to it," he replied.

"Ralph, one of these days Villicana.." Bill started to say to Ralph but was cut off.

"Just try to calm down, we're supposed to be having fun." Ralph said as he pointed over to Pam. "Why don't you go over and help Pam with the other decorations?" Bill agreed.

Ralph sighed, relieved as cooler heads prevailed... Atleast this time.

---

Cyler looked at the zombie mannequins in the corner as he picked up a couple of fake skeletons. "Man, those are some creepy looking zombies." he said as he focused on one with long white hair.

"They look better than some of your dates!" Paco said jokingly as he walked by. Cyler joined him walking to the other room.

"Ralph did you remember to bring your pirate costume?" Pam asked picking out a spider decoration.

"Yeah, it's in that box in the corner with yours." Ralph said plugging in a wire as he turned on a crystal ball.

"What are you gonna wear, Miss Davidson?" asked Rhonda hanging fake spider webs along the banister railing that went upstairs.

"I'll be dressed up as a witch. It's traditional, but I like the pointy witch hat" she replied as she handed a spider to Bill.

"Rhonda, would you go get that box of party favors I left in the last room to the left upstairs?" Ralph asked.

"Sure thing, Mr. H." she said heading upstairs.

"What about you, Bill? You're gonna dress up for tonight aren't you?" Pam asked.

"Yeah.. Yeah.. I found something cheap at the costume place downtown." he said hanging the fake spider up on a nail.

"I think I found Maxwell's costume. Nice wig." Tony said pulling out a red wig. "You comin' as Chuckles the FBI clown?" he laughed.

"Be careful with that! It's a rental, I gotta return that in one piece!" Bill said as he climbed down the ladder.

"Whatever. I'll tell yas who I'm gonna be tonight. Dr. Frankenstein!" Tony said proudly.

"That's fantastic, except for one problem," Cyler said grinning. "People will think you're Dr. Frankenstein's monster!" Cyler's comment recieved giggles from the room.

"I'm sure everyone will have great costumes." Ralph said, "Remember to be here thirty minutes early so we can get everything ready."

"You got it." Cyler said looking around for something. "Hey did someone grab that mannequin that was here in the corner?"

"Hey, yeah. It looked like it had a white goatee." Paco said carrying an empty box. "Didn't it?"

"No, it had long white hair. I thought for sure it was still here." Cyler replied confused.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Ralph said clapping his hands together to get everyone's attention. "Ok gang I think we're ready aside from a few things Bill, Pam and I will do to finish up. Why don't you go on home and get ready. I'll see all of you later tonight." he said satisfied with everything.

"See you guys tonight!" Cyler said heading towards the door.

"We are outta here," Paco replied.

"Remember we have to make sure everything is ready before we open up, so come early." Ralph reminded.

"Yeah, thirty minutes. I'll be here." Tony said. "Hey Maxwell, don't let any monsters scare ya away from the party tonight." he laughed as he left the house.

"Real cute, Villicana. I'll consider this part of your community work for the felonies that haven't been reported on you," Bill replied.

---


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
-------------------------

Ralph leaned against the inside glass of the phone booth. Holding the reciever to his ear after pressing the last few numbers, he waited for an answer as he looked toward the afternoon sun.

"Ah.. Mrs. Blake, this is Ralph Hinkley. I'm Rhonda's schoolteacher..." he said standing up after getting an answer.

"I'm doing fine. I hope you are doing well. ... That's good." He smiled. "Listen, the reason I called is that I wanted to speak to Rhonda and remind her to bring the audio tape with the Halloween sound effects with her tonight."

He paused listening to Mrs. Blake. "It's sitting on the counter?" He chuckled. "You'll tell her when she gets home?"

"She hasn't returned home yet, Mr. Hinkley." said the voice on the other line.

"She didn't?" He asked with a hint of concern on his face.

Pam walked out of the discount store holding several filled bags. She headed over to where Ralph was at the phone.

"Yes, you're probably right. ... Ok. I'll see her tonight then. Have a good evening. ... I hope to see you soon as well. Goodbye." Ralph hanged up the phone and left the phone booth.

Pam handed Ralph a bag to carry. "Did she remember to bring the tape tonight?"

"She wasn't there." He said as they walked to the car. "Her mother said she hadn't come back yet from being at the house this morning." Ralph unlocked the passenger door and opened it for Pam.

"She's not back yet?" Pam got in the car. Ralph shut the door and entered the car on the driver's side.

"Yeah. She's probably still with Tony and the guys." Ralph stated as he turned the key in the ignition.

---

Bill looked around the shaded room, rubbing his arms as if he was cold. "Boy, nuthin' like being by yourself in some old, dusty house. This would even give the spiders the willies."

Bill picked up a box of party favors off the table, along with a pink headband. He examined the headband and put it with the party favors. He headed out of the room and went downstairs.

Ralph and Pam entered the house with the bags from when they went shopping. Bill walked down the stairs to greet them.

"Hey kids, I'm hungry. I hope you brought some snacks." he said as he scanned the bags hoping to spot something to eat. "By the way. I found this box of party favors upstairs. I figured you might need them." He handed the box over to Ralph distracted by a box of Milkbones Pam offered. He grabbed the box of dog biscuits. "You're an angel, Counselor!"

Ralph looked at the box of party favors. "This was the box I asked Rhonda to get for me earlier." He rubbed the back of his head. "It was still upstairs?"

"Maybe she forgot it." Pam said taking out a bag of chips from the shopping bag.

"Maybe she didn't plan on retrieving it in the first place." Bill said munching on a couple dog biscuits.

"No, that's not like her." Ralph said with a concerned look. "She's one of my good students. She wouldn't blatantly shrug off something like that." Ralph took notice of the pink headband. "What's this doing in here?"

Pam looked at what Ralph was examining. "Rhonda was wearing that earlier. I remember it." Pam gave Ralph the same concerned look.

"Gang, it's just a headband. That could have come from anywhere." Bill said trying to be the voice of reason.

"Bill, I called Rhonda's house while we were gone. Her mother said she hadn't arrived back home yet." Ralph said, now worried.

"Yeah, and?" Bill replied trying to put everything together.

"And the fact that Rhonda isn't the type of student that would go off without donig a simple task. The fact that an article of her clothing was found at the box Ralph asked her to pick up. Not to mention the fact that it's been an hour and she hasn't been home since." Pam answered hoping he would understand.

"Right..." Bill said as he swallowed the piece of dog biscuit he had in his mouth. "Okay, I guess we could look around this place and see if she's still here or something." He said standing up and putting the box of Milkbones on the table. "Counselor, you look around this floor. Ralph, you and I will check upstairs."

Ralph agreed and went up the stairs with Bill. Pam searched around the rooms.

---

As Bill and Ralph searched one of the upstairs rooms. Bill noticed movement in a sheet of curtains substituting as a doorway. He pulled out his gun. "Agent Maxwell.. FBI. Don't make any sudden moves." Bill said clearly aiming it at the curtain.

"Bill!" Ralph said as he pulled Bill's arm away from pointing the gun at the doorway. "For all we know that could be Rhonda." he said shocked at his partner. "Rhonda? Rhonda? Are you there?" Ralph asked to no avail.

"MEEEEEOWWWWWRRR!"

All of a sudden a black streaming shadow darted out from behind the curtains and headed left. Bill aimed his gun and took a shot at it. The streaming shadow stopped and was revealed to be a sheet of cloth. Movement under the cloth however, didn't stop. A cat crawled out from underneath and ran off towards the other rooms.

"You were going to shoot a cat." Ralph said annoyed. "You know, cats DO sometimes enter old, abandoned houses and live there."

"Sorry kid, I was going on instinct there. Besides it's got nine lives as opposed to the one life I'VE got." Bill sheepishly replied.

They head off towards another room.

Bill stands in the doorway examining the room. Ralph walks towards a closet.

"I'm gonna check this closet area just in case there's something here." Ralph said as he opened the door to the closet and went inside to look around.

"You do that. I'm gonna check the other room." Bill replied as he gave the room one last look. He went to the hallway to check out the other room.

Ralph stood in front of Bill in the doorway of the other room.

"DOH!" Bill said startled to see Ralph standing in front of him. "RALPH! Don't do that! You know I can't stand it when you do that with the jammies!" Bill gave Ralph a look as if he noticed something. "You don't have the jammies on right now do you?"

"Nope." Ralph replied.

"What is going on in this wacko house?" Bill asked a bit confused.

"Secret pathway." Ralph said as he pointed to where a moved bookshelf stands in front of an opening.

"Secret Pathways?" Bill said to him stunned.

Ralph shrugged. "It's an old house. They had a lot of those back in the day." he said as he tried to make reason out of the unexplained.

"Okay, I've had my fill of these games." Bill said a bit annoyed.

"I just want to find Rhonda." Ralph said hoping nothing terrible had happened.

"Let's head downstairs to see if the Counselor found anything." Bill said assuringly.

Ralph agreed, "Alright." Both men headed downstairs.

---


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
------------------------

"Pam, did you find anything?" Ralph said looking around as he came down the staircase. "Pam?" he called out after not getting an answer. "Now, I'm worried." he said turning to Bill.

Bill shouted, "Counselor?" He noticed Ralph was getting really worried. "We'll find her. She couldn't have gotten far." he said trying to reassure his partner.

"I DO think something fishy is going in this house." he stated looking around the place.

As they started looking around for clues or anything out of place. Bill heard a noise come from behind the closet door in the main room. Ralph looked at the door and started towards it. Bill stopped him grabbing his shoulder. Ralph looked at Bill. Bill put his finger to his lips then pulled out his gun as he walked slowly towards the closet. He slowly gripped the doorknob then quickly opened the door.

When he opened the door, what appeared to be a stiff dead person fell out of the closet onto Bill. Ralph jumped back a bit.

Bill stood there emotionless as the mannequin that was dressed up as a dead guy leaned on his shoulder. Bill sighed. "Villicana didn't do this one. Did he?"

Ralph answered, "No, I don't remember seeing that before."

"Yep, something fishy is going on around here." he said shoving the mannequin off of him to the side. Pointing to a small door in the closet. "Another secret pathway I assume?" he asked with a smirk.

"I was worried. Now I'm getting annoyed." Ralph said as he headed towards the front door. He opened the door as a cloth ghost swung down at him from the outside. Angered by the antics going on, Ralph tore the ghost down.

"That's it. I'm getting the suit." he said as he stormed outside towards the back of his car.

"It's about time." Bill said leaning against the wall.

---

Pam slowly woke up to find herself in a dimly lit room.

"Miss Davidson, are you alright?"

Pam looked over to see Rhonda sitting beside her and that both of them are tied up. "I'm fine, Rhonda. Are you hurt?"

"No, at least not yet." she replied a bit concerned.

"Where are we?" Pam asked looking around. "This looks like a basement."

"Yeah, that's what I figured as well. I don't see no windows to the outside though." replied Rhonda.

"It may be a type of sub-basement." Pam said looking at the walls. "Have you seen who kidnapped us?"

"Yeah, I saw it." answered Rhonda.

"It?" Pam asked hiding concern.

"When I was getting that box for Mr. H, I turned around and it grabbed me. I.. I don't know if it's some kinda monster or someone in a Halloween costume trying to prank us." Rhonda answered positive she wasn't seeing things.

"This is for sure not a prank, Rhonda." Pam said.

"No it isn't!" echoed a voice in the shadows.

Startled, Pam gasped as she and Rhonda looked towards the distance. "Who's there?" Pam bravely asked.

"Your questions will be answered shortly.. As will the punishment of the sins of your past." responded the voice with a scratchy shrill.

"Sins? What sins?" Rhonda questioned. "I didn't do nothin'! I swear!" she said starting to panic as she looked at Pam.

"Calm down, Rhonda." Pam said to her trying to ease her worry. "We both know you haven't done anything. No one is going to hurt you." she said reassuring her. "Atleast not if Ralph has anything to say about it." Pam quietly said to herself, but not quiet enough.

Hearing what Pam said, Rhonda asked, "Mr. H? He's lookin' for me?" with a glimmer of hope in her voice.

"Yes, and now he's probably looking for me too." she quietly said to Rhonda.

Just then a figure appeared from the shadows. It slowly headed towards the the two captives.

"There it is! That's the one who kidnapped us!" Rhonda stated at Pam.

Pam looked closely at the figure. "Wasn't that the mannequin Cyler thought he saw?" she asked.

"Hey, you're right." Rhonda said. "That thing's been stalkin' us the whole time we've been here!"

"And for good reason!" the figure with white long hair, wearing a brown tattered robe said boldly. "Your kind has stalked ME! Invaded my home! Stolen from me! Tonight, I get my REVENGE!" Speaking, the figure raised it's fists in the air as if celebrating a victory as the lights in the room shown its face. It looked like some monster or demon crudely made with rubber.

"I told you. I hadn't done nothing!" Rhonda said defending herself.

"You will be an example to the others!" the figure replied.

"What others?" Pam asked.

"The others like her that come and trespass my home!" It angrily answered.

"I get it now. Apparently this person doesn't like children." Pam explained to Rhonda. "So what do they do because of that? They join the looney bin."

Rhonda nodded, confused and surprised Pam would make a bold statement like that.

"So what are my crimes then?" Pam asked the figure.

"Guilt by association!" it replied. "People like you defend them. When they should be punished to where their kind doesn't exist anymore!" it said as it leaned over close to Pam.

"Give me a break." Pam said rolling her eyes.

The figure backed off and slowly walked towards the shadows again as it said, "Your break will come soon." laughing as it disappeared.

---

"Are you ready yet?" Bill asked as he examined a flashlight he was holding.

"Yeah." Ralph said as he fastened his cape. He then looks around to find something to holograph on. He picks up Pam's pocketbook.

"Getting anything?" Bill asked.

Ralph squinted his eyes, "Yeah. It's blurry and faded. I think I see Pam, but I'm not sure." Putting the pocketbook down, he went towards the wall in the main room and presses both hands against it. "I'm getting nothing, Bill." He looked at Bill. "What could be the problem and why now?"

Bill answered, "It could be the house. Who knows what happens when the suit comes up against an old, dusty house."

"Where should we start then? This floor or upstairs?" Ralph questioned.

"Here. Since we found this shiny new secret pathway in the closet that you haven't gone through yet." pointing at the doorway in the closet.

"Works for me." Ralph said as he opened the door and stepped in. Bill followed and shone the light down the corridor. "You've got the flashlight. Want to go first?"

"Considering you've got the jammies on, no thanks. I'll take back-up." Bill said motioning Ralph to go on. After a few feet they stop at an opening. Bill shines his flashlight in front of them finding a staircase. "I can't see the bottom, can you? he asked.

"Nope." Ralph said as he walked down the steps. Just as both men started down the steps collapsed underneath their feet making them slide down to the bottom ending up on top of each other.

Bill rolled off of Ralph sitting up. "Are you alright?" Ralph asked. "Considering you landed on me." He said slowly getting up and helping Bill.

"Yeah, just thinking about how I'm gonna throw the book at this so called fun house." he said double checking to make sure there were no injuries. Seeing as there were none he looked up and saw two pathways at the wall opposite of them. "Great, a fork in the road."

"You go that way." Ralph pointed to the path on the right. "I'll go this way." he said heading through the one on the left.

"Whatever you say." Bill chuckled to himself.

---

Ralph walked slowly down the hallway. All of a sudden flashes of white lights which appeared to be strobe lights started flashing all around the hallway. Soon after splashes of red and blue joined in. "Great, a light show." Ralph said to himself.

"You're all alone." a voice said in the distance. "You will lose those you care about. You will fail."

"You're telling me stuff I ask myself everyday. Wanna try some new material on me?" Ralph yells back as he continues down the hallway undaunted.

---

Bill stops dead in his tracks after walking a short distance. He shines the flashlight down. He sees a pit full of liquid of somekind. "Hmm.. This could water. This could be acid. It could be cold water with an alligator in it waiting to have Uncle Bill for supper." he said. He shined the flashlight around and spotted something in the distance towards where the pit ends. It was a skeleton. "Acid it is." He then shined the light above him if there's anything hanging down for him to climb over the pit with. "Nothing... Can't go over it. Certainly can't go through it." he thought and then smiled as he shined the flashlight alongside the wall. "I'm gonna have to go around it! Hehe.." Bill tucked the flashlight under his chin as he slowly walked along the edge of the pit with his back against the wall and his arms spread out trying to hold onto anything he can grab. "You didn't know you would be dealing with Agent Bill Maxwell of the 72nd Armored Division!" he said talking to himself. "I was in Korea! These booby traps are a cake walk compared to that place!" Bill finally reached the end of the pit and gave a sigh of relief.

"Finally made it?"

"YOW! Ralph! I told ya to cut it out with the invisible stuff!" Bill said checking to see if his heart was still in his chest.

"I wasn't invisible." Ralph said, "but I was here long enough to find out you didn't have to go through all of that." Ralph walked over and picked up the skeleton. "It's plastic and that pit is filled with water."

Bill cleared his throat, "I didn't want to get wet."

Ralph half grinned at Bill. "Right, but since you mentioned going invisible.." Ralph leaned towards him in a hushed voice. "I think I will do that. I have this odd feeling we're being watched."

"Wouldn't surprise me if we were." Bill said agreeingly. "Do your stuff, kid." Ralph headed towards the doorway as if he was heading off. Browwrrr Ralph disappears. Bill headed onwards.

---


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
-------------------------

"Rhonda.." Pam quietly said moving her arms as if she was trying to get comfortable.

"Yeah, Mrs. Davidson? What is it?" Rhonda said looking towards her.

"Don't, bring any attention to us, but I think I'm able to get my hands untied." she said. Rhonda nodded looking off into the distance. She made one last movement. "There, got it." Pam looked around cautiously as she rose. "Hang tight, I'll try to get out of here and find Ralph and Bill. I'll come back for you as fast as I can."

"Be careful, I don't like this creep." Rhonda said with some concern in her voice.

"I will." Pam said giving one last glance around the room. She then ran off to find an exit. She spotted a staircase. "The stairs would only slow me down." she thought. Finding a door, she went towards it and slowly turned the knob.

"Where do you think you're going?" a voice said as it grabbed Pam's arm. Pam gasped as she turned around to see the figure stood behind her.

"Away from here." she said defiantly.

"That wouldn't be wise. Especially with your friend still tied up." it said as it pointed in the direction where Rhonda was still held. The figure paused, "Not to mention what is in store for your friend upstairs.

"Friend upstairs. What have you done to him?" Pam said sternly.

"Ohhh, nothing yet. He's having the fright of his life." the figure said chuckling. "He is a simpleton though, thinking that gun of his will do any good here."

"Gun.. Bill, be careful." Pam thought to herself.

"As for the blonde one. He was either scared off or met his demise one way or another. It really doesn't matter. You should be concerned with what I'm going to do with you. Especially now that you have tried to escape.." Pam backed up against the door as the figure advanced towards her. Still being held by the figure Pam, though unwillingly complied and was escorted back. Rhonda looked up to see Pam accompanied by the mysterious figure.

"If you hurt her, I swear I'll.." Rhonda started but was immediately cut off.

"You'll do nothing." The figure said tying Pam's arms making sure they were tighter.

"I'm okay, Rhonda.Try to stay calm, we don't want to make this situation any worse." Pam said as she hoped this would end soon.

---

As Bill walked past the corner of the hallway, he stood wide-eyed. He saw through the darkness legs sticking out of the opened doorway in front of him. Figuring out the scenarios that possibly took place in front of him, he pulled out his gun and held it up in the air ready for anything that might happen.

He slowly stepped towards the doorway keeping an eye on the lifeless form and the doorway it occupied. He paused, what seemed to be the lower half of a body started to move. "Hold it!", Bill said as he aimed the gun towards the doorway. He watched as the bottom half turned out to be a full body raise up. It stood at the entrance to the next room. Neatly dressed up in a tuxedo with one thing missing, a head. "Don't move." he said blinking to make sure he really saw what stood in front of him. The headless body rose a little and then started floating towards Bill at a fast pace. He stood firmly, lips pursed and gun aimed at the headless body that came at him. Bill pulled the trigger. With a loud bang from the gun, the headless body collapsed inches in front of Bill. He kneeled and examined the body. He said outloud to himself, "Gee Ralph.. Was that a black cat? Or a tuxedo?" Bill stood up. "It was a dummy in a tuxedo on a string" he chuckled.

"I see that, Bill." Ralph's voice said out of thin air.

Bill flinched. "I thought you were gonna go on ahead of me?" he asked looking around to see where Ralph's whereabouts were.

"There's no point. If someone is watching us and trying to stop us with these scare tactics. I can try to catch them in the act." Ralph said still invisible. "Plus, if they were in hiding. You shooting at everything would scare them off."

"A formal dressed body with no head was flying at me. I wasn't going to just stand there!" Bill said as he explained his actions.

"Bill, I thought I saw someone's shadow over there! You go find Pam and Rhonda, I'm gonna check this out." Ralph's voice said.

"Alright, watch out for headless dummies." Bill replied sarcastically.

---

He walked on into the room where the dummy in the tuxedo laid. "There's gotta be an end room to this wacky maze." he said to himself. Sure enough, soon as he turned one of the corners in the room he spotted Pam and Rhonda at the far end of the room. He looked around carefully to make sure no one else was around. Positive it was clear. He quickly moved across the room, pausing at a pillar holding up the ceiling in the room.

"Punishment for the guilty!" the voice of their kidnapper laughed somewhere nearby. Bill looked around to see if he could spot where it came from but didn't find anything.

He then darted towards the nearest pillar to Pam and Rhonda. "Counselor!" he whispered but loud enough for them to hear him.

Pam and Rhonda looked over to where Bill was hiding. They gave a sigh of relief.

"Bill!" Pam whispered. "Thank goodness you're here!" she said.

"Mr. Maxwell, help us outta here! Rhonda whispered to him.

"Hang in there, kid. Are you ladies hurt?" he asked. Pam and Rhonda shook their heads. "Who is this nutcase?"

"I dunno, but it don't like us." Rhonda replied.

"It?" Bill questioned. He looked around to see if the coast was clear, then went to untie them.

"Whoever it is, they're in disguise." Pam said to Bill. She leaned over to him quietly asking, "Where's Ralph?"

"He's around. He'll get to the bottom of this." he responded.

"Ahhh! Someone sympathetic to the cause!" said the figure seemingly near.

"MR. MAXWELL!" Rhonda yelled.

Bill turned around as he rose up. He met the figure face to face. He reached for his gun. As he pulled it out, the figure swung a club at him knocking the gun out of his hand.

"Don't worry, when this is through you will still have a bleeding heart." it said getting ready to take another swing at Bill.

"What? I voted for Regan!" he said as he raised his arms to defend himself.

The figure swung at him again. It missed, but Bill stumbled and fell back.

"It all ends, tonight!" the figure bodly stated with a sense of victory. The figure raised the club to swing it down at Bill. Bill raised his arm over his face to block the club and his possibly last moment of living.

"BILL!", Pam screamed.

Just as the figure started to swing the club down at Bill, it stopped midair as if time stood still.

Rrrrwworb

"Mr. H!" Rhonda said as she turned from watching Bill to where the figure was.

Ralph appeared as he held the club in place with one hand and the figure with the other hand. He snatched the club and threw it to the side. He held the figure tightly. "I've had enough of your games tonight, and I think everyone else here as too."

Bill gave a sigh of relief and stood up. Ralph took the mask off the figure.

"Mrs. Pearson?" Ralph said shocked as he saw the face of an old lady.

"Who?" Bill asked.

"Maude Pearson. She was the previous owner of this house, but I don't understand.." Pam said to Bill before she was cut off by him.

"Alright. Your luck just ran out, lady." he said retrieving his gun. "Don't worry kids, questions will be answered along with several more questions." Bill pulled his wallet out and flipped his badge at the lady. "I'm Bill Maxwell from the FBI and you've just placed a bunch of charges on you. Kidnapping.. Assaulting an agent of the FBI. We're going downtown, Mrs. Hubbard." he said taking her arm.

"Mrs. Pearson, Bill." Ralph said corrected him.

"Mrs. Pearson.. Mrs. Filberts, who cares.. Now how do we get outta here." Bill asked. The old lady pointed to a staircase. "A staircase, of course." Bill smirked as he lead her up.

"Are you okay?" Ralph asked as he checked Pam. She nodded. He then untied Rhonda's hands "Rhonda, are you alright?"

"Yeah, but I'm glad you and Mr. Maxwell came and saved us." she said as she rubbed her wrists.

"Anytime Rhonda. You know I'm always here if you need help." Ralph said assuringly.

"I know that.." she said though with a puzzled look on her face.

"Something on your mind, Rhonda?" he asked her.

"Well yeah. I thought you were gonna wear a pirate costume?" she asked.

"Oh.." Ralph said as he crossed his arms. He and Pam exchanged looks. "Yeah, but I also saw this superhero outfit and couldn't decide on the two." he said as he hoped to pass the excuse of wearing the suit.

"I kinda like that costume." she said "After tonight both you and Mr. Maxwell seem like heros to me now."

Ralph and Pam chuckled, "Thanks Rhonda. I'm sure Bill will appreciate hearing that. For now, why don't we get outta here." he said.

"Sounds good to me." Rhonda said.

"Sounds good to me too." Pam added as all three headed towards the staircase.

---


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
----------------------------

Children all dressed up in different Halloween costumes and adults alike wandered around the room as they took in the excitement of the themed room.

"ROAR!" A group of children walked past a fake brick wall just as Tony reached out with his gloved hand. Frightened for only a second, they laughed as they ran off towards another booth.

"What a day." Ralph said dressed in his pirate costume. He and Pam sat at a table in the corner as they watched the activities.

"Tell me about it." Pam replied as she straightened her witch dress. "I wonder if Mrs. Pearson will be alright?" she wondered.

"I'm sure Bill will fill us in on what happened with her." he said. "If he decided to come back here." as he looked around.

"Hey, it's Chuckles the FBI Guy!" Paco dressed as a rockstar said standing at the snack table.

Bill walked over, dressed in a red wig, red nose, yellow clown outfit and red clown boots. "Yuk it up, Rodriguez." he said as he got some chips and a cup of punch. He saw Ralph and Pam sitting then walked over.

"I never would have believed it. Bill Maxwell, wearing a Halloween costume." Pam said smiling as she looked at Bill.

"Why not, Counselor? I paid for the outfit, might as well wear it." he replied to her as he ate some chips.

"So Bill, what happened with Mrs. Pearson?" Ralph asked him. Rhonda, who was working the crystal ball booth saw the three and walked over.

"Old lady Pearson is now residing at the rubber room mansion. Two charges on kidnapping and my favorite, assaulting an agent." he said as he took a sip of his punch.

"Why did she do that to us, Mr. Maxwell?" Rhonda asked.

"Well kid, here's how the story goes or at least her side of it. She lived in a rough neighborhood. Delinquent kids and all. She had everything done to her. House eggings. Her trees TP'ed, windows broken.. Vandals. It's a long list and the psychologist at the office said once you get too much of that kinda stuff you start losing it. So she did, a screw and all the marbles with it." he explained.

"You were right, Mrs. Davidson. You had her figured out." Rhonda said.

"Not ALL of it. I didn't know WHY she did it." Pam added.

"What about all those rooms with the booby traps and the secret pathways?" Ralph questioned as he looked at Bill.

"The house itself is about fourty years old. So the secret pathways themselves were added in the fifties with the atomic bomb craze goin' on. The little funhouse downstairs, however was built a few years ago by contractors." Bill replied.

"Building contractors?" Pam asked.

"You got it, Counselor. It seems Mental Maude did own this house, but before moving to a smaller house a few blocks away she paid building contractors to install the little obstacle course saying that it would be used for a haunted house like tonight or a funhouse later on." Bill answered.

"So then she waited for someone to unknowingly come to this house and fall in her trap." Ralph added.

"That was the scenario. Quite a mastermind that old dame was there." Bill said.

"Yeah, but ya know. Even though she did all that stuff. I feel kinda bad for her. She must've had it rough." Rhonda said sympathetically.

"You're probably right." Pam said.

"I probably would hate this time of year too if I were her." Rhonda said glancing over to her crystal ball booth. "Gotta go! I've got customers!"

"Have fun, Rhonda." Ralph said, proud of his student's feelings on the situation.

"I guess that would make someone go cuckoo, but I really don't understand it." Bill stated as he shook his head.

"Understand what?" Ralph asked.

"Why would anybody wanna hate Halloween?" Bill responded.

Ralph and Pam looked at each other and laughed.

The End.


End file.
